To dedicate a portion of the rental fees from
wind and solar energy projects on Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau
of Land Management for the administrative costs of processing applications for
new wind and solar projects, and for other purposes.

IN
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 14, 2011

Mr.
HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To
dedicate a portion of the rental fees from wind and solar energy projects on Federal
land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management for the administrative
costs of processing applications for new wind and solar projects, and for other
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION
1. SHORT TITLE.

(a) Deposit of Annual
Wind Energy and Solar Energy Right-of-Way Authorization Rental Fees- Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, amounts received up to $5,000,000 each fiscal year
by the United States as annual wind energy and solar energy right-of-way authorization
fees required under section 504(g) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1764(g)) shall be deposited into a separate account in the
Treasury to be known as the `BLM Wind Energy and Solar Energy Permit Processing
Improvement Fund'.

(b) Use of Deposits- Amounts deposited under
subsection (a) shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior for expenditure,
without further appropriation and without fiscal year limitation, for salaries
and expenses related to the Bureau of Land Management offices dedicated to the
coordination and processing of wind energy and solar energy permit applications.

(c) Transfer of Funds- For the purposes of coordination and processing of wind
energy and solar energy permit applications on public lands, the Secretary of
the Interior may authorize the expenditure or transfer of such amounts deposited
under subsection (a) as are necessary to--

(1) the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service;

(2) the Environmental Protection
Agency; and

(3) State agencies involved in processing
of wind and solar permits on Federal lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau
of Land Management.